A Very Claylie Valentine
by EarwenLalaith
Summary: Okay, so I DESPISE Valentine's Day. Think it's overrated, but I thought, why not. Clanker and Caylie would make a cute couple for Valentine's Day! Set as an aside of The Piratesse which, I know, is not finished! But there aren't really many spoilers. R


A/N: Yeah, so it's fluffier than what I'm used to, hehe, but I felt like writing this. I'm bored. Blech. Valentine's Day...is awful...except on the Dutchman. .

Disclaimer: Nothing 'cept Caylie's mine!! DO NOT HURT ME!! Just review. XD

A Very Claylie Valentine's Day

It was a cold day on the Flying Dutchman. Cold days were not very common, but when they came, they came on hard. Today was one such day. The wind was howling, the sky was dark and grey and the sun was well hidden under a layer of thick clouds. Caylie Adams Jones huffed angrily. This was not a good day for her. She couldn't swim in the sea, she couldn't enjoy the sun when she worked on deck, nothing. All she could do was work down in the hold and hope the dark gloomy weather would go away. It didn't. Caylie blew a pesky strand of hair out of her face and sighed. She hated the cold. She'd begged her uncle to go somewhere warmer but he'd insisted that it was not possible to even try to sail in those harmful winds, even with the Dutchman. She'd asked if they could just go underwater and sail that way but he'd said it wasn't possible because she was being too much of a miserable lass to bother with all that trouble. She didn't like when her uncle did that. And he'd also said, "I said ye were the Dutchman's sunshine, not its resident rain cloud!" And he'd walked away, leaving Caylie very angry and very miserable. Even her precious dolphins weren't out and about, jumping around as they usually did. She sighed. She missed them.

Davy Jones sighed as he walked away from his very moody niece. She was so cranky today. It was really bothered him to see her like this. It was February and he knew from experience the cold was going to stick around for a while. She snapped at everyone. She did not talk to anyone when she was like this. She just wanted to go swim. She always did. But today was different. She was moodier than usual. She did not seem happy at all. From what he'd gathered from his maps and calendars it was February 14…Valentine's Day. Was that why she was angry? He didn't think she even knew about Valentine's Day. She never mentioned it before. He shrugged. Maybe there was more to her anger than he thought. He saw Clanker come up on deck and walked over to him.

"Cap'n," Clanker nodded.

"Talk ter her," Jones told him, motioning to Caylie.

"Weather got her in the dumps today?" Clanker guessed. He'd gotten used to Caylie's crankiness on miserably cold days.

Jones looked at Clanker. "Do ye know what day it is, today?"

Clanker chuckled. "O' course I know the days o' the week an' what day we are. We're not all disoriented as Caylie an' ye seem ter think." He walked away from Jones, a smile on his face. Jones scoffed. Clanker was annoying sometimes, like now.Clanker had, in fact, a very good idea of what day it was. He was very proud of himself for it. He walked over to Caylie, a casual look on his face. "Hey Caylie, how're ye?" he asked her.

Caylie looked at him momentarily and then turned back to the sea. "Ick."

"Ick? Is that even a word?" Clanker chuckled.

Caylie shrugged. She didn't care if it was a bloody word or not. That was how she felt. Like ick. She blew that same nasty piece of hair out of her face and frowned.

"I take it the weather's botherin' ye…" Clanker suggested.

Caylie nodded. "No swimming, no sun, no nothin' except layers of grey clouds!"

Clanker nodded and then shrugged, walking away. Caylie glared as he left. So much for a comforting friend! He just walked off! She huffed. She did not like today at all. It was positively the worse day of the whole year. But for more reasons than one…she still remembered when she had been a young girl of fourteen in England…and it was February fourteenth…

_Caylie walked down the city streets of London, boredom taking over her. Everywhere she looked there were flowers and chocolates and hearts and so much red everywhere one would expect it was a blood bath. She sighed, rolling her eyes. What made this day so different from all the rest anyways? She didn't understand it. Two girls dressed in beautiful red dresses ran up to her. __"Caylie! Caylie!" one called, flipping her beautiful and shiny blonde hair back. __Caylie stopped and looked at them. "Yes?" __"Your grandparents want you! They have something special for you!" the other, a brunette, said. __Caylie frowned. "Special as in…" __They pulled her all the way to her house where as soon as she entered her grandmother showed her a beautiful red gown like the two other girls. Caylie flipped. __"NO WAY! I'm NOT wearing that! Never!" __"Oh come now, Caylie, it's only a dress…" her grandmother tried to reason but Caylie wouldn't have it. __They'd finally agreed Caylie would wear a dress, but only if it was dark red, so dark it looked black to the weak eye. But before they had a chance to get her into the dress for the evening's party, Caylie'd already gone, fleeing for her sanity. She'd ran off into a small corner of the town, the poorest corner of town and hid until the party ended and everyone was safely out of sight…_

Caylie knew it was a weak reason to hate the day, but she hated it with a passion. She'd had to bear watching all of her friends the next day gush over how many suitors they had and how many presents they'd received. And though Caylie knew it was her fault if she didn't have any suitors, it still didn't take away the slight twinge she got that made her wish she had a suitor then…But she couldn't, the way she acted. She was a wild girl. She pushed the memory out of her head and stared back at the sea, now an ugly blue color without the sun around.

"I hate today," she muttered.

"Why would that be, Caylie?" Clanker asked behind her, smirking as she gave a small jump.

"Because," Caylie snapped. "I jus' do. The weather's terrible, there's nothin' to do that I haven't done, and…and…"

"It's Valentine's Day?" Clanker finished for her, rather dully.

Caylie glared at him. "Yes, because it's Valentine's Day. A stupid holiday if I ever saw one!"

Clanker raised an eyebrow at her. "Why stupid?"

"If people love each other what's the point o' dedicatin' a day to it?! They can jus' express it in their own time," Caylie said bitterly, trying to hide her own pain.

Clanker walked up right behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. "So ye've never gotten a Valentine's day present I take it…" Caylie didn't look at him. She stared ahead at the sea.

"What makes ye think I haven't?"

Clanker chuckled, running his hand down her arm. "Ye wouldn't talk about it like that if ye had…"

Caylie clenched her jaw. She should've known better than to try and fool Clanker. She stayed silent. Clanker nodded. "Maybe ye're right Caylie, maybe it is a stupid day," he shrugged. "Aye, an' maybe we should never celebrate it here," Caylie said, her voice shaky.

Clanker shrugged indifferently. "Not like we were goin' to anyways."

Caylie felt disappointment creep up on her. She'd thought, well, she didn't know what she'd thought. She gave a small nod. "Aye, that's true…"

Clanker heard the disappoint soaked in her words. He sighed. "Ah yes…I suppose that means ye won't be needin' this then, aye?"

Caylie frowned, turning around. She had no idea what he meant. "What?" She froze. In his hands was a beautiful box carved completely out of wood. It was so perfectly carved too, not one corner was sharp or angled. On it were seashells she'd never seen before. Colored, in pink, yellow and blue, and glittering, even without the sun. She wondered what they'd look like when the sun shone bright…And where there wasn't a seashell there was a small piece of pink coral, each one cut and twisted to look like a little rose. On the top of the box though, and what really took the cake, was the dolphin carving in the wood. It was a perfect match to a real dolphin. She was so shocked she didn't know what to say. She just stared at it. And beside the carving was written _Dolphin Queen _in little letters, some of the finest Caylie'd ever seen carved into wood like that. In plus of all that, there were little crushed bits of pearl scattered over it. She reached out to touch the box but thought better of it. She looked up at him and then turned back to the sea, having heard something…She peered over the edge and saw a little dolphin swimming around, and then he jumped up and placed a small bunch of sea corals and sea plants in her hand. They were put together so nicely she wondered who'd done it that well. She giggled as the dolphin splashed her in ice cold water before diving down into the depths once more.

She looked back at Clanker, the bouquet in her hand. She looked back at the box. "This…"

"Is fer ye," Clanker nodded, smiling softly. "Happy Valentine's Day, Caylie."

Caylie never thought this would make her as happy as it did. So this was why there was a day dedicated to love. "Fer me? A-all o' this?" Clanker smiled. "Ye don't really think I'd let it go that easily, did ye?" Caylie looked down, shaking her head slowly. She ran her hand over the box. "But I don't have anythin' fer ye, Clanker, I can't accept this." But she really wanted to.

Clanker tipped her chin up to look at him. "Seeing as this is the first time ye have a Valentine's Day gift I'm goin' ter show ye how it goes. When a man spends nearly a week figurin' out how the bloody hell's he goin' ter make his girl happy, spends hours carving a box, learns how ter talk to them squeaking miscreants and then has ter bargain with all the troublemakers on the ship ter make sure they don't breath a word about it ter the lass, she better damn well accept it and put a big smile on her face fer him. That's all he wants."

Caylie smiled widely at him, the smile reaching her eyes, making them twinkle. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, but not too tightly so that she wouldn't break the box. He kissed her forehead and smiled back. He put the box in her hand. She looked at it and then opened it. The inside was beautiful, the same pearly crushed bits sparkling inside. She knew she'd never know how he managed to pull off something so creative and beautiful, but she would treasure that box forever.

Clanker touched the dolphin pendant he'd given her before that now hung around her neck. "Ye can put the pendant inside it now, an' keep it safe."

Caylie looked up at him and nodded, holding the box to her protectively, a treasure in its own right. "How did I come ter deserve this?" Clanker smiled, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Ye always ask, an' I always say by bein' yerself." And he kissed her lightly on the lips, not wanting to get in too much trouble with Jones, who, he knew, was watching behind him. Caylie smiled as they broke apart and reached up, touching his face. "Ye know what…I think I like today."

Clanker grinned. "I thought ye would."

And just as he said that the sky seemed to clear, and the sun shone brightly on the Dutchman, making the box twinkle and glimmer, looking like a large jewel. Caylie looked at the sky, feeling the cold winds cease and the clouds begin to clear, making room for the sun to shine brightly. Blue bits began to appear and before she knew it, Caylie was looking up to a beautiful clear sky. "Hey! The sun came out!!" She looked more thrilled than a three year old at Christmas. Clanker grinned wider. "Well, I guess ye control the weather Caylie."

Caylie looked at him and laughed. "I suppose I do!"

Jones watched the two with a satisfied grin on his face. It seemed when no one could make Caylie smile, he could. And Jones had to respect him for that. Caylie and Clanker stood together on the deck, both happier than they had been in days. Clanker couldn't believe he'd pulled off something like he had, and Caylie couldn't believe for the first time in nearly two hundred years, someone had thought of her on Valentine's day. It was an empowering feeling, silly as it sounded. She felt special, like she was worth something more. Clanker seemed to always manage to make her feel that way. She touched the necklace softly and then the box beside her. "Did ye really take a week ter plan all this?" she asked him softly. Clanker gave a small nod. "But it didn't feel like it. I would've spent months on it, maybe years, if it made ye happy." Caylie smiled, getting a warm feeling inside her, one that spread throughout her whole being. "It did. I wish I'd done somethin' fer ye." "Caylie, I've been alive fer over two hundred years an' I've never truly been alive save fer now, bein' here with you an' watching ye smile and get all happy at somethin' as small as what I did today," Clanker said, looking at her and taking her hand in his. "Small? Clanker this is…gigantic. No one's ever thought o' me on Valentine's day, let alone spend all that time like ye did," Caylie said, incredulous. How could he be so modest about something like this. She felt his hands and saw there were little splinters of wood in them, and some scratches from working with the wood so much.

"Well no one's known ye like I have," Clanker said, touching her face gently. Caylie kissed his other hand and closed her eyes, leaning her head against his chest. She opened her eyes and smiled at him, looking at the box and then the blue sky above them, now becoming a million different colors as the sun set. If this was what being alive was like, then she never wanted to die.

* * *

A/N: Ew the fluffiness of it all! goes to kill charrie to make things interesting XD Oh well. I know some of you will hate it, but eh, in a way this is me mocking Valentine's Day. XD 


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